8/3/2019 WLB Statement"End Militarism to Eliminate Violence Against Women"-engl

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P.O Box 413 G P O Chiang Mai 50000 Thailand wlb@womenofburma.org www.womenofburma.org

Statement on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women25 November 2011

"End Militarism to Eliminate Violence Against Women"On 17 December, 1999, the 83 rd Session of the 54 th United Nations General Assembly designated the 25 th of November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women by Resolution 54/134.

On International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Womens League of Burma (WLB)appeals to the people of Burma to participate in the struggle that will bring peace and an end to the militarism inBurma.

Women and girls in Burma are suffering physical, mental and sexual violence in their homes, in their communitiesand by the State on daily basis. WLB holds the firm belief that all the forms of violence against women in ethnicareas, including rape and killings, are a direct result of militarism.

The Burma military raped 81 women and girls - 36 of whom they killed during the 8 month-long armed conflictbetween the Burmese army and the ethnic armed groups in Shan and Kachin States, after the collapse of ceasefireagreements, as reported by Shan Womens Action Network (SWAN) and Kachin Womens Association-Thailand(KWAT), 2011. Given the status of violence against women in ethnic areas, it is evident that the army of thePresident Thein Sein's government is still using rape as a weapon of war exactly as the armies of the previousregimes of SLORC and SPDC.

We welcome the reports that the government held cease-fire talks with delegations from the Karen National Union(KNU) and the Shan State Army (SSA-South) recently. We urge the government to continue the talks with otherethnic armed groups including Kachin, in order to move forward with a genuine political dialogue.

As women and children suffer the most during wartime and armed conflict, it is imperative that women's voices areheard at every peace talk. The WLB is thrilled that Naw Zipporah Sein was included as a female member of KNU'speace talk delegation. Women participants need to be included and participate in other ethnic delegations peacetalks.

We welcome the 2011 UNGA resolution, which suggests that human rights violations including rape and otherforms of sexual violence against women in Burma remain to be addressed. The Burmese regime, however, hassuccessively continued to neglect the previous over 30 resolutions. We therefore would like to appeal to the UnitedNations and international community to take greater effective action against the Burmese government toimplement the resolution.

The WLB would like to request Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to take into account the regime's use of sexual violenceagainst women as a weapon of war when striving for rule of law, internal peace and constitutional reforms. We also

would like to appeal to her to initiate the establishment of a federal union based on political equality for every ethnic nationality in Burma.

In Burma, women make up half of the total population. We therefore would like to encourage all ethnic women tounite and work together in the struggle for sustainable peace and an end of militarism that has gravely impacted the women of Burma.

For further information;

Saw San Nyreim Thu +66 (0) 80 79 20 445 Jan Moon Nayli - +66 (0) 85 6251 912Lway Nway Hnoung +66 (0) 82 1648 115